Growth and Development of Lesser Mealworm Alphitobius diaperinus

Food constitutes an important factor which influences an insect’s chance to survive and multiply by modifying its fecundity, longevity or the speed of development. In recent years much attention has been focussed on the control of insect pests through nutritional regulations. A. diaperinus lays eggs over a long time, belonging to the second group of four types of egg lying in Coleoptera. There appears to have been no published information on the effect of the pulses, red lentil, gram, khesari and black gram on the fecundity and fertility of A. diaperinus.